The Wide World of Terps
1/16/2007 7:00:00 AM | Terrapin Athletics
Jan. 16, 2007
The University of Maryland strives to field the best college sports teams in the United States. To do that, it takes a world-class effort.
Maryland currently has athletes from 16 nations, combining to form its competitive Division I program. And although the athletes often are far from home, their games are not.
In Caracas, Venezuela, the family of freshman Greivis Vasquez invites family and friends to sit around the computer in preparation for the Terps' next basketball game. The game is broadcast in English, but it is a hit with the Spanish-speaking crowd.
"It's amazing," said Vasquez, a graduate of nearby Montrose Christian High School. "They sit around the computer and start listening. It will be like 20 people, none of them who speak English. They don't understand anything. But when they hear `Vasquez' they just start jumping and going crazy."
Vasquez came to the United States less than two years ago and found that "the most difficult thing was leaving my family behind me. It was tough for me but I was thinking ahead. I thought that I would be playing on the D-1 level soon so that is the best choice for me to come here and have the opportunity to go to school. This is what I want."
Vasquez is one of two freshmen recruits and has had an immediate impact, considering he learned how to play basketball in a country focused mostly on baseball and soccer. Vasquez said he worked hard every day to improve his game.
"I was trying to get away from [other sports]," he said. "I was trying to work everyday so when I came here I wouldn't be surprised from the play. Here it is more organized. It's a better level. I was able to adjust to it real quick."
While his sponsoring family from high school lives close by, Vasquez says his true inspiration comes from his parents.
"Everything I do is for them," he said. "They inspire me to work hard and be a good person, and to be a good basketball player. It is tough with my family behind me, but this is my dream."
On the southwest coast of South America lies Santiago, Chile, the hometown of senior field hockey player Paula Infante, twice named national player of the year and member of the Terps' back-to-back NCAA championship squad. Her parents, brother and two sisters, who play at American University, soon accompanied her journey to Maryland when they moved to the United States.
It has been a successful transition for Infante, who is the only women's player in UM history to be chosen a four-time first team All-American. While Maryland's ranking and location in the metropolitan DC area made it an easy choice to sign on, for Infante, the most challenging aspect of leaving her home¬land was adapting to life in America. Infante also faced the challenge of adapting to the American style of play.
"Internationally, players are more skilled," she said, "but there is not so much power and strength as it is here."
Infante also resides with her six year-old son, Agustin, who she said "has made me grow up in so many ways on and off the field. All I do is for him; he helps me to keep fighting and pushing through my toughest moments. He makes me realize that we play to have fun, not for winning. No matter what's the score I will always try me best for him to be proud of me."
During the holiday season, men's tennis player Nickolai Nielsen will travel the 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean to reach the small town of Farum, Denmark. With an urban municipality consisting of less than 20,000 inhabitants, Nielsen will join his parents and brother, Daniel.
After being ranked as high as 100th in the ITF Junior World Rankings, Nielsen traveled to play for Maryland with former Terps Andreas Vaage-Nilsen, also a native of Denmark.
"It was challenging at first to find my way around," he said, "but it was without a doubt easier coming over with a friend. We were two pairs of eyes and ears instead of one, and that meant we really helped get a hang of things in school and sport together. We were able to make a lot of friends being `the Danish tennis guys.'"
Nielsen passed up a chance to play in his native country for the chance to play in the states.
"There is a small player base in Denmark so you kind of know everybody's game style," he said. "Often times you are playing your opponent instead of your game. In college play, the team aspect plays such an important role. They help you get pumped up and make you give it your best. There isn't the same feeling of being out on the court alone."
While currently preparing for his second season as a Terp, Nielsen is coming off an extremely successful first year, where he was voted the most valuable player by his teammates. He began singles play 6-0, finished 12-9 in singles play and had four overall wins in the ACC.
"Nickolai is the most intense player on the team," said former Terp John O'Rourke. "That man is a competitor with 100 percent pure heart. I do not think the words `give up' or `let up' translate for him. He always gives everything he's got."
South of Denmark in Vandoeuvre, France is the native land of senior women's basketball player Aurelie Noirez. At the tender age of 15, Noirez left home to play on the French National Team. Still, when it was time to leave her homeland and come to America, she found it difficult.
"The biggest challenge was to get acclimated to the culture and the language," she said. "I thought that I could speak English before coming here and then being around all the people, I was getting very frustrated."
Before Maryland, Noirez played in European and World Championships, where she was found by Assistant Coach Jeff Walz.
"He just checked me out and offered me a scholarship," she said. "I did have the option of playing in Europe but I wanted to come to the states."
Noirez also faced a difference in play from her home because, "European play is less physical. It is much more about you being able to set up the play and passing the ball until we find the best shot. Here it is much more physical."
During her junior season, in a dramatic chain of events, Noirez and the Terps' won the 2006 National Championship and Noirez became the first woman from France to be on a championship team.
"This is my goal and my dream and I achieved it," she said.
As the pool of international talent continues to grow, Maryland will diversify even more, not only academically but also during games. Despite the variety of languages spoken by players, they all understand the two most important words in the UM sports vocabulary:
Go Terps!
--By Carrie Hubbard, Athletics Media Relations Assistant
